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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 11/28/13 at 5:34 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 11/28/13 at 5:34 am to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 28 November 1863
It had been only three days since the Battle of Missionary Ridge had made the Union hold on Tennessee complete. The magnificent fighting force known as the Army of Tennessee, which had smashed the Union armies at Chickamauga and bottled them up in Chattanooga, had basically been left sitting idle ever since. Atop Missionary Ridge east of the city, they had been given no orders to fortify properly, and when the attack came the cannon could not be properly aimed, and were swept away. Today the man responsible for this sorry situation, General Braxton Bragg, finally seemed to see where the problem lay--in his own hands. With this he wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis asking to be relieved of command, and requesting "an investigation" into the causes of the defeat. This was tantamount to requesting his own court-martial.
The USS Chippewa, Lieutenant Commander Thomas C. Harris, convoyed the Army transport Monohassett and Mayflower up Skull Creek, South Carolina, on a reconnaissance mission. Though Confederate troops had established defensive positions from which to resist attacks, Chippewa's effective fire prevented them from halting the movement. "The object of the expedition was fully accomplished," Harris reported, "and the reconnaissance was complete."
A cavalry fight took place at Louisville, Tennessee, between a small party of Confederate partisans and two hundred and twenty-five men belonging to the Sixth Illinois regiment, resulting in the retreat of the Rebels.
It had been only three days since the Battle of Missionary Ridge had made the Union hold on Tennessee complete. The magnificent fighting force known as the Army of Tennessee, which had smashed the Union armies at Chickamauga and bottled them up in Chattanooga, had basically been left sitting idle ever since. Atop Missionary Ridge east of the city, they had been given no orders to fortify properly, and when the attack came the cannon could not be properly aimed, and were swept away. Today the man responsible for this sorry situation, General Braxton Bragg, finally seemed to see where the problem lay--in his own hands. With this he wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis asking to be relieved of command, and requesting "an investigation" into the causes of the defeat. This was tantamount to requesting his own court-martial.
The USS Chippewa, Lieutenant Commander Thomas C. Harris, convoyed the Army transport Monohassett and Mayflower up Skull Creek, South Carolina, on a reconnaissance mission. Though Confederate troops had established defensive positions from which to resist attacks, Chippewa's effective fire prevented them from halting the movement. "The object of the expedition was fully accomplished," Harris reported, "and the reconnaissance was complete."
A cavalry fight took place at Louisville, Tennessee, between a small party of Confederate partisans and two hundred and twenty-five men belonging to the Sixth Illinois regiment, resulting in the retreat of the Rebels.
1
Posted on 11/29/13 at 1:59 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 29 November 1863
General James Longstreet was one of the greatest corps commanders the South ever produced, but as today’s action demonstrates, he frequently did not do so well when in independent command. It was his final chance to capture the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, and to complicate matters, he had to do it during a sleet storm. The objective was called Fort Sanders in some accounts, Fort Loudon in others, but it was the key to the Union defenses of the city. Attacks started at dawn, in horrid conditions so slick that it was difficult to merely walk, much less charge, fire and reload a gun. Despite these handicaps Longstreet’s men got as far as planting their flag on the parapet of the fort---but they could get no farther, and were finally driven back. Longstreet, knowing that General Braxton Bragg had been defeated at Chattanooga and could provide no assistance, decided he had done all he could, and began making arrangements to move his men back to Virginia. A few hours previous to the assault, the Confederate General issued the following instructions to the commanders of the brigades who were to attempt the attack:
Headquarters, November 29, 1863.
General: Please impress your officers and men with the importance of making a rush when they once start to take such a position as that occupied by the enemy yesterday. If the troops, once started, rush forward till the point is carried, the loss will be trifling; whereas, if they hesitate, the enemy gets courage, or, being behind a comparatively sheltered position, will fight the harder.
Beside, if the assaulting party once loses courage and falters, he will not find courage, probably, to make a renewed effort. The men should be cautioned before they start at such work, and told what they are to do, and the importance and great safety of doing it with a rush.
Very respectfully,
J. Longstreet, Lieutenant-General. Major-General McLaws.
The gunboat USS Kanawha, Lieutenant Commander Mayo, captured the schooner Albert (or Wenona Winona) attempting to run the blockade out of Mobile, Alabama, with a full cargo of cotton, rosin, turpentine, and tobacco.
At the request of Major General Nathaniel Banks, a gun crew from the USS Monongahela, Commander James Hooker Strong, went ashore to man howitzers in support of an Army attack on Pass Cavallo, Texas.
General James Longstreet was one of the greatest corps commanders the South ever produced, but as today’s action demonstrates, he frequently did not do so well when in independent command. It was his final chance to capture the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, and to complicate matters, he had to do it during a sleet storm. The objective was called Fort Sanders in some accounts, Fort Loudon in others, but it was the key to the Union defenses of the city. Attacks started at dawn, in horrid conditions so slick that it was difficult to merely walk, much less charge, fire and reload a gun. Despite these handicaps Longstreet’s men got as far as planting their flag on the parapet of the fort---but they could get no farther, and were finally driven back. Longstreet, knowing that General Braxton Bragg had been defeated at Chattanooga and could provide no assistance, decided he had done all he could, and began making arrangements to move his men back to Virginia. A few hours previous to the assault, the Confederate General issued the following instructions to the commanders of the brigades who were to attempt the attack:
Headquarters, November 29, 1863.
General: Please impress your officers and men with the importance of making a rush when they once start to take such a position as that occupied by the enemy yesterday. If the troops, once started, rush forward till the point is carried, the loss will be trifling; whereas, if they hesitate, the enemy gets courage, or, being behind a comparatively sheltered position, will fight the harder.
Beside, if the assaulting party once loses courage and falters, he will not find courage, probably, to make a renewed effort. The men should be cautioned before they start at such work, and told what they are to do, and the importance and great safety of doing it with a rush.
Very respectfully,
J. Longstreet, Lieutenant-General. Major-General McLaws.
The gunboat USS Kanawha, Lieutenant Commander Mayo, captured the schooner Albert (or Wenona Winona) attempting to run the blockade out of Mobile, Alabama, with a full cargo of cotton, rosin, turpentine, and tobacco.
At the request of Major General Nathaniel Banks, a gun crew from the USS Monongahela, Commander James Hooker Strong, went ashore to man howitzers in support of an Army attack on Pass Cavallo, Texas.
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